Solar

It is critical for the Commonwealth to promote emerging sources of renewable energy in order to meet our greenhouse emissions goals as well as to end our dependence on natural gas. Massachusetts is a nationally recognized clean energy leader because we have made a clear legislative effort to grow our green energy sector. Our solar power industry is a prime example of our progress having created 15,000 jobs working on over 26,000 projects throughout the state.

In order to continue the solar industry’s progress in Massachusetts, both the House and Senate passed differing versions of legislation that would raise the net-metering cap and allow for the permitting of large solar projects to continue. The legislation also made changes to how solar energy producers would be reimbursed for the electricity that they provide to the grid. A Conference Committee consisting of three House Representatives and three Senators has been discussing how to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate bills for the past several months.

In December of last year, I wrote to the House conferees to voice my concern about the proposed changes in the House version of the solar bill. Specifically, I asked them to base potential changes to solar compensation on a professional study carried out by the Department of Public Utilities (DPU), and to use that study to guide and set future reimbursement rates (see link to letter below).

Additionally, I have joined many of my colleagues in signing a letter to the Conference Committee that expresses the urgency for passing legislation this year that will raise the net-metering cap, reform the SREC program, and maintain the current retail reimbursement for net-metering until we have a better understanding of the true costs and benefits of solar energy to ratepayers (see link to letter below).

It is my hope that these efforts, along with the many advocates and residents who have voiced their strong support for solar energy, will help steer the conferees toward a better solar bill—one that will allow this vital industry to continue to flourish in Massachusetts.

One of the ways in which this piece of legislation would accomplish this goal is by encouraging more homeowners and businesses in the Commonwealth to generate their own electricity through solar, wind, or other renewable means. In order to create a greater incentive for home and business owners to start producing their own green electricity, this bill will raise the cap on the number of “net-metering” facilities that can be connected to the grid.

Net-metering is a system in which the owners of solar panels, wind turbines, or other intermittent generation facilities are connected to the grid and provide power to the grid when they use less electricity than they generate. With wind and solar, there are times when the customer will also draw from the grid to power their home or business. At the end of the month, the electricity produced and the electricity consumed are totaled and the net-consumption is what is billed by the utility. In cases where production exceeds consumption, the customer is considered a “net-exporter” of electricity and will be billed for 0 kW hours of electricity and receive a credit to their account.

Once the statewide cap on net-metering facilities is reached, net-metering credits will no longer be available and customers with their own electric production facilities will be required to pay for all of the energy that they use in the course of a month, regardless of how much they are able to put back into the grid. Once the cap is reached, the incentive for those considering purchasing renewable generators is severely diminished. Without net-metering, it will take someone who buys solar panels or a wind turbine for their home or business much longer to see a return on their investment.

And now, Massachusetts is dangerously close to the cap on net-metering. The cap is set for private customers at 1% of the electric grid’s historical peak output. That translates to about 51.3 megawatts. According to National Grid, the total capacity of all private net-metering facilities in Massachusetts is at 43.6 MW as of June 12.

While there is a cushion of more than seven megawatts of capacity before the cap is reached, the total capacity of all of the systems that are in the application process for connection to the grid under this cap is more than 300 MW. Competition for the last space under the cap makes renewable energy a risky investment for homeowners and businesses at a time when we should be encouraging it the most.

The bill that was released by the House Ways and Means Committee this morning takes a proactive step to correct this problem. It completely removes the net-metering cap on private customers that use their generators to offset the amount of load their property adds to the grid. This means that if a business or homeowner is considering adding solar or wind power equipment to their property, their risk is lowered and their opportunity for a return on their investment is substantially increased. This preserves net-metering as the financial incentive that it is meant to be.

This bill will also increase caps on net-metering for publicly-owned generation facilities and facilities that do not offset on-site load (solar and wind farms). The primary goal of these changes is to maximize the use of clean methods of producing electricity and minimize the use of oil and natural gas. The secondary goal is to create a sustainable industry that provides good jobs to workers in Massachusetts. Our state is uniquely positioned to become a global player in the fields of solar and wind power, and net-metering not only supports that industry financially, but generates interest and support for it among the general public.

I will be casting my vote in favor of this bill when it is considered by the full House of Representatives later this week. The impact of climate change will be one of the biggest challenges that we will face as Americans in this century. Updating our net-metering laws might be a small step forward for renewable energy, but it is a step in the right direction.